Alone
by cellochick373
Summary: Brief Cara/Kahlan one shot.


Finally got home in time to watch the last ten minutes of an episode, and so I have managed to somehow twist what little I saw into a Cara/Kahlan fic! My first....yay. Really short one-shot, but it's a start!

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"_I want to feel the soft touch of a woman again."_

Standing in the dark keeping watch, Cara found her mind wandering back to Darken Rahl's words. They had caught her a bit by surprise, and had caused an unexpected rush of what she grudgingly admitted to be emotion. Rahl seemed to be under the impression that being alive meant that one could have whatever physical pleasures were desired, but as her eyes tracked the movement of a chipmunk, Cara knew that wasn't entirely true.

As a Mord-Sith, she could easily have had any number of people, both men and women, in any number of small towns and villages they had passed through. Something kept holding her back, though she had been hesitant thus far to acknowledge that fact. She knew, in some locked away dungeon deep within her heart, why she didn't just take some poor unwitting stranger and have her way with them. Admitting that they weren't who she truly wanted, however, was not something she was ready to do.

Cara was drawn from her musings as she registered the sound of soft footsteps approaching. Kahlan wordlessly stopped at Cara's side, and the two women stood for a long moment in companionable silence. Half turning so she could see Cara's face, Kahlan softly asked, "What's wrong?" Feigning indifference, the blonde arched an eyebrow, remaining silent. Exhaling in brief frustration, Kahlan said, "I can tell something is on your mind. You've been too quiet since we brought Darken Rahl back."

When the Mord-Sith remained quiet, Kahlan reached out hesitantly and placed her hand on Cara's shoulder. "Was it something he did? Something he said? Cara, you know you can trust me. Please, just tell me what's going on." Turning to face Kahlan fully, Cara broke her silence and started to say something before stopping. Seeing the blonde throwing walls back up in defense, Kahlan gently squeezed her shoulder, and the contact was enough to force the words from Cara's mouth. "I hate being alone."

Kahlan's eyes widened at the admission, and her mouth opened slightly in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly hadn't been that. Trying to remember if there was anything that Rahl had done that could have triggered such an apparently random response, her mind finally latched onto the moment when Rahl had talked about the touch of a woman. He had stared Cara down as he had said it, leering at her and letting his gaze wander the length of her body. Kahlan remembered the flash of fury that had passed through her at him, and the desire to strangle him and leave him to the Keeper, their quest be damned.

But then his gaze was on her, though only for a second, and a smirk flitted across his features before he returned his gaze to Cara. The rational part of Kahlan's mind had warred fiercely with the emotions running through her, but Cara glanced back at her for a split second, and somehow her eyes calmed the brunette, reassuring her that everything was fine, that Rahl couldn't actually do anything.

As the blonde looked back to Rahl, the rational part of Kahlan won the battle, but even as she came back to the present moment Kahlan could still feel the emotion simmering just below the surface. The cool night air made her shiver as she tried to decipher what Cara was thinking, but the woman was once more the carefully guarded, emotionless person she had been trianed to be.

Turning Cara so that the blonde was facing her completely, Kahlan said quietly, "You're not alone." The words seemed tragically inadequate, but Kahlan found herself at a loss for anything else to say.

Despite her professed inexperience with emotion, Cara had years of experience in recognizing it in others and reading what they were going through, and she saw the struggle Kahlan was having to articulate something to comfort her. Knowing there was no way for Kahlan to say what she needed to hear, Cara decided to let the brunette off the hook. She knew it was the easy way out, but as she allowed a small smile to touch her lips and saw the relief in the ice blue eyes watching her, she knew it was better for them.

Kahlan was unable to stop a smile from forming on her own lips as she saw the tension in the blonde's face break and dissipate, and she let her hand come up to cup the smaller woman's cheek. "You have us, Cara. Don't ever forget that." While she kept her face under control as she nodded, inside Cara reveled in the soft touch of Kahlan's hand against her face.

As Kahlan turned and went back to the fire Cara let her hand come up to rest on the spot where Kahlan's had been moments before and exhaled in frustration. Watching as the brunette laid back down, she turned back to face the night.

No matter what Rahl might believe, being alive was certainly no guarantee that whatever was desired could be had.

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The end! I know nothing really happened, but I wrote a version where stuff happened and it just seemed too awkward, so I went back to this one. Maybe in the future if there's more good scenes...or if I ever get around to watching every other ep in this season! Let me know what you thought so I can make it better for next time!


End file.
